Sarri Bater

Sarri Bater – FounderAs a scholar-practitioner in Conflict Transformation, Sarri holds nonviolent communication (NVC) as a foundation of her approach. For 20 years she has worked extensively in Sri Lanka, the Middle East, Europe and the UK, with diverse engagement in the field: dialogue projects in Northern Ireland; election monitoring and supporting NGO's and communities in Sri Lanka; ​​lecture and seminars at Universities; CEO of a refugee charity; various programmes with schools; applying Conflict Transformation to Child Protection; ​​detached youth work and youth forums; supporting alternatives to violence in Israel and occupied Palestine; Conflict Transformation with music and drama; working with men in Maximum Security Prison; trainer in Gender and Sexual Rights and Equality in European consortium; participating in UN Human Rights Council Sessions; running local learning and practice groups in NVC and social change; working with police and government on reforming ‘community and race relations’; school and community mediation projects; working with young adults in the probation service; experimental programmes with restorative circles; Transitional Justice research and applied TJ projects in Northern Ireland and Sri Lanka…and more…

Sarri holds a First Class Honours Degree in Peace Studies, an MSc with distinction in Transitional Justice, and an LLM in Human Rights. Sarri has training in other related subjects and processes which she uses in her work (e.g. Living and Full Embodiment NVC, mediation, restorative circles, Holacracy, permaculture design, Convergent Facilitation, Theory U; Theatre of the Oppressed …and more…). In the tradition of Adam, Curle, first Professor of Peace Studies, Sarri's practice 'goes beyond political and technical engagement with conflict, to include deeper spiritual and philosophical resources for moving from paradigms of violence to paradigms of peace'.

Sarri has a passion for work that engages with the relationship between personal transformation and transforming systemic and structural violence, and has developed work on conscious evolution in organisations. Sarri also specialises in ‘identity and difference’ conflict. Sarri’s third passion is bringing together research and practice, and she is currently developing collaborative projects with scholars and students in the UK and practitioners in Sri Lanka. Sarri is highly committed to learning, integrating, embodying and developing re-humanising processes and systems as an alternative to existing systems.

"I have a powerful urge to communicate, ....but I find the distance between us insurmountable."Pastor Paul in Lukas Hnaths play 'The Christians'.​"When the distance between us seems insurmountable, I feel a powerful urge to communicate."​Sarri.